‘She’s a magnet’: Guard Allie Quigley’s shooting opens up game for Sky

When asked about the importance of guard Allie Quigley’s shooting for the Sky, coach James Wade only had four words about the Joliet native who will be competing in her third consecutive WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday.

“She’s a good shooter,” Wade said.

That was an understatement and he knew it.

Quigley had just finished one of her best shooting games of the season. She and center Stefanie Dolson both scored game-highs of 19 points in the Sky’s 78-70 win over the Fever on Sunday at Wintrust Arena.

Quigley made four of her eight three-point attempts, just two less than the Fever combined, putting her at 51 makes for the season — seven more than the next closest player.

Wade, Quigley and fellow All-Star guard Courtney Vandersloot laughed at the comment before Wade put into context how Quigley’s shooting impacts the Sky.

“She opens up everything for us,” Wade elaborated. “She’s a magnet. She pulls the defense away from other people because she’s pulling two people to her. We trust her with shots you don’t trust everybody with because she has such attention to detail in her shot. We know that when we have her on the floor, people are going to have to pay attention to her.”

The gravitational pull Wade mentions showed itself during the Sky’s victory.

Quigley ran a pick-and-roll with forward Jantel Lavender in the middle of floor and Dolson spotted up on the left-wing.

Quigley’s, Lavender’s and Dolson’s defenders all kept their attention on Quigley. The defensive attention Quigley received allowed Dolson to cleanly receive Quigley’s pass with plenty of space in front of her and knock down a three-pointer during the first quarter.

“I’ve always been a good shooter, ever since I was young,” Quigley said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten more and more confident in realizing that’s who I am as a player. That’s my best strength — being a shooter. Just embracing that I think helped me get confidence.”

Quigley didn’t get a significant amount of playing time during her first five seasons in the WNBA — not playing more than 10 minutes per game until her sixth season in the league. She didn’t play in the WNBA during the 2012 season.

She said excelling overseas helped her build confidence once she returned to the WNBA with the Sky in 2013.

Quigley’s time out of the league helped give her more of a “just shoot it” mentality. She knew that as long as she let it fly, there would always be a place for her in the WNBA.

“I didn’t think I used it as much I should’ve early on in my career because mentally I didn’t know that was going to keep me out there,” Quigley said. “I was worried about too many other things and just thinking too much.”

Wade said Quigley’s consistency — she leads the league in three-point percentage at 47.7% — is what the Sky needs from her.

“That means every other shot that she shoots, it goes in,” Wade said. “That’s what you want, especially from somebody who can stretch out defenses. We’re trying to find ways to get her open.”